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1. Messy drawers? Use shoe boxes.

Real Simple

Make those boring old shoe boxes into drawer dividers! For a pop of color at the bottom, line the boxes with printed wrapping paper. This simple DIY is visually appealing, making you feel less distressed, and won’t break your budget.

2. Add extra outlet ports.

Bed, Bath & Beyond

In your tiny dorm room, there won’t be many places to plug in your laptop. Invest in some bed risers with outlet ports to help give you more places to charge up. Plus, the bed rises will give you extra space for storage under your bed!

3. Picture frames are for more than pictures.

Maple & MagnoliaThe Wishful Tinker

You can find a very inexpensive picture frame almost anywhere — the dollar store, Michaels Crafts or any local craft store — you may even have an extra one around your house. Here are a couple great ways to reuse or recreate your frames:

1) Paint swatches, double-sided tape and some dry erase markers make a cute calendar! Use a variety of different colors or make your own color scheme, as seen in the photo on the left. Don't like the paint swatch idea? Print out pictures of you and your friends or beautiful scenery instead!

2) Create a special pocketed organizer for your desk. Let's face it — your dorm room desk will be tight so having a pretty place to put your pens, pencils, calculators, etc. will be extremely helpful.

4. Bed pockets are a must.

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Yes, they may not be the coolest thing to buy. But bed pockets can be the difference between you losing — or even, God forbid, stepping on and breaking — your iPhone. They maximize your storage space, leaving room on your bedside table, desk, bureau and so on. If you feel they're just too bland and boring, they come in multiple colors to match any style!

5. Yes, toilet paper rolls can be useful!

Aunt Peaches

Organize desk pens, pencils, rulers, scissors and more in a supply box to keep your desk from being cluttered. Color code each section or mix them up! Any way to keep your desk in check will be worth it with this extremely low-cost trick.

Bianca is a freshman at the University of Connecticut majoring in business and minoring in communications and international business. She political articles and loves to be involved on her campus. Bianca loves to read, run, knit and craft. You can follow her on Instagram @biancadag!

Fresh U is an online publication for freshmen, by freshmen. We’re focused on content meaningful to freshmen, something overlooked by general college websites or school newspapers. This isn’t just an online destination for freshmen - Fresh U gives freshmen the opportunity to become published writers and to be involved in the process of running their own publication.